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By Kay Bushnell
(This is the third in a three-part series on plastic bags.)
Plastic bags begin as crude oil, natural gas, or petrochemical derivatives that are transformed into resins. The resin is heated and extruded, flattened, sealed, punched, and printed on. The environmental cost of plastic bags is huge. The plastic bags that have inundated our planet are derived from a non-renewable resource; they never break down completely; they strangle wildlife; and they clog single stream recycling machinery.
Some countries have taken decisive measures to stop the proliferation of plastic bags. In Ireland customers pay an extra 15 euro-cents for each plastic bag they use. In the first five months after the charge was implemented, use of plastic bags in Ireland dropped 90 percent. In Taiwan shoppers must pay extra for plastic bags. Plastic bags were banned in Bangladesh in 2002 because they clogged drains and sewer lines. Somaliland and Rwanda have banned them. Australia and our nearby city of San Francisco are considering placing a tax on them.
Fortunately, neither plastic bags nor paper bags are necessary. Sturdy cloth bags, especially those made with organically grown, sustainable plant fibers, make the best shopping bags, say recycling directors. Large cloth totes and smaller cloth bags for produce, grains, and foods from the bulk section of your market can be reused thousands of times, which more than justifies their initial cost of five to ten dollars. It may take time to train a shopper who is accustomed to using plastic or paper bags to change longtime habits. However, repeatedly reaching the check-out counter without your cloth bags and going out to your car or bike to get them is excellent training. I soon learned to slip the cloth bags over my arm before entering the store. Avoid plastic by taking a cloth bag or two with you every time you enter a store of any kind.
A second best alternative to cloth bags and a transitional step toward eventually using only cloth bags is to reuse the plastic bags you already have as long as possible. Plastic produce bags can be reused as many as 50 times. If they need washing, rinse them out. Then hang them on a bag dryer, or attach them with clothespins to dry on a coat hanger. The Palo Alto Hardware and several internet sites sell a compact bag dryer with spindles that hold 8 bags. When your remaining plastic bags become completely worn out, take them to a recycling center or set them out for curbside recycling of plastic bags if your community offers it. Use cloth bags exclusively for all shopping from then on.
If we can learn to fasten our seatbelts automatically when driving surely we can acquire the habit of taking cloth bags with us when shopping. It may take increased public education as well as a surcharge on plastic to wean shoppers away from plastic and paper to reusable cloth bags. Why wait? In the next twelve months trillions more plastic bags will pollute our planet. Now is the time to equip ourselves with reusable cloth bags made of natural fibers. We'll please marine wildlife, municipal recyclers, and everyone who values leaving light footprints on an earth that is being smothered with plastic.
Continued in next issue: Switching to Reusable Cloth Bags
Resources:
I found many large, sturdy cloth totes and an excellent selection of smaller, lightweight cloth bags with drawstring tops for produce, grains, and bulk items at
www.ecobags.com and www.reusablebags.com. Mention the code, "Sloma2005" for a 15% discount on your order with Ecobags.
Plasticbagrecycling.org lists locations where plastic bags can be dropped off in each zip code area.
Our Synthetic Seas" is an excellent video on plastic pollution in our oceans. The video is available from The Algalita Marine Research Foundation
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